“Tier-Pac?”
“What?” He laughed and sat up to shake his head at me.
“Well, you did tell me once that you're living the thug life,” I shrugged and then gave up and chortled. “Hey, have you ever noticed how similar your name is to my father's? Tier and Keir.”
“First of all, it is not similar. My name is Tiernan and his is Keir,” Tiernan sighed. “And second; are we really going to go from talking about Raza to talking about your father... while we lay naked in bed together?”
“Hmmm,” I sat up and looked him over. “You're absolutely right. Maybe we should be talking about a nickname for little Tiernan,” I pointed down into his lap.
“What?!” His beautiful silver eyes, exotically shaped (as most sidhe eyes are), rounded in horror.
“You've never named it?” I giggled.
“Why would I name it? It already has a proper name,” he gaped at me.
“For pillow talk of course,” I laid back on said pillow.
“Pillow talk?”
“You know, so you can say something like,” I dropped my voice into an imitation of his, “Tiny Tiernan wants to play.”
“Tiny?!” He nearly shouted.
“I didn't mean it was tiny,” I rolled my eyes. “I meant that it was like a mini you.”
“Never use the word tiny in reference to me again,” he narrowed his eyes on me. “Not in bed, not out of bed, not ever and not in any way.”
“Alright,” I laughed. “Sensitive much?”
“Yes, it is rather sensitive,” he smiled wickedly as leaned over me. “But not in the way you're implying.”
“I think I'm going to need an example of its sensitivity,” I slid my hand down to investigate.
Chapter Ten
The next morning, Rayetayah arrived with a flock of raven mockers. I hadn't even considered that there might be children. I don't know why, it made perfect sense that there would be. And there they were; raven mocker families. Mothers, fathers, and children; all holding hands as they stood behind their leader and all of them staring at us with grim expressions. Most of them had black, feathered wings folded behind their backs. They each held a piece of luggage, even the children, and I felt like I was staring a a group of angelic refugees.
“That's a lot of fairies,” I whispered.
“He called them all in,” Tiernan lifted a brow at me. “You wanted all the raven mockers and that's what you got; the entire lot living in the Human Realm.”
“I don't think the plane will hold them all,” I said to Tiernan.
“I had our plane prepared for you,” Councilman Teagan said from his place on my right. “It's large enough to transport two-hundred-fifty people.”
“Thank you. That sounds perfect,” I nodded to him and then I headed down the porch steps to Rayetayah and his mockers...ourraven mockers. “Thank you all for agreeing to do this,” I said to them. “I know this is a hardship on you and your children but I promise that you will be very comfortable in Twilight Castle. You will be safe there and as soon as we discover who is behind these deaths, you'll be returned to your homes.”
They all nodded their heads in acknowledgment but no one spoke.
“We'll be driving to the airport in these,” I indicated the black SUVs waiting in a row down the driveway. “But before we go, I want you to know one more thing. We don't know each other yet. You have no reason to trust me except for this; I am my father's daughter and I vow to do right by you. You are twilight fey and although most of you have lived your lives here in the Human Realm, you will always be twilight fey. In that we share common ground. I was raised here too. I know exactly how it feels to be pulled from your home and thrust into Fairy, and I can honestly tell you that you're going to be alright. The Twilight Court is different from the other courts of Fairy. We don't abandon our fey and I won't abandon you. I promise you that, as your princess.”
Tense shoulders sagged and grim faces eased. Several children smiled at me and parents nodded in acceptance. Sometimes you just needed someone to tell you it was going to be okay. I was glad that I could be that person for them.
“Alright then,” I waved to the cars. “Let's get going. It looks like we may have to make multiple trips.”
Chapter Eleven
Raven mockers were able to appear completely human. It wasn't just a glamour, it was an ability to magically tuck away their wings. I don't know where the wings went and I didn't ask. Never look a magic horse in the mouth. Whatever the case, I was glad for it because it meant that we were able to squeeze more of them into the vehicles than we would have with their wings exposed. But even with the extra space the lack of wings provided, we still didn't have enough room in the SUVs and instead of making multiple trips, we decided to bring in a few buses to get everyone to the airport in one go.
